Yonac Shredder review

  • £3.99
With Shredder you can just plug in and go…

MusicRadar Verdict

If you have an iPad this will be more fun for much longer than spending your four quid on that pint and pork scratchings.

Pros

  • +

    Versatile programmable synth; can trigger other synths via MIDI; guitar mix control to create hybrid sounds .

Cons

  • -

    Like most guitar synths you may need to modify your playing slightly.

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Guitar synths? Most of us can take them or leave them.

But when the opportunity arises to play bleeps, farts and squelches - as well as a whole bunch of ambient soundscapes and emulated real instruments - for less than the price of a pint and a packet of pork scratchings it's an opportunity not to be missed. Yonac's Shredder provides that opportunity.

In Use

Shredder is a synthesiser and MIDI interface designed specially for guitar players that can be used with any guitar. There's no need for special pickups - you just plug into your iPad through your input device of choice and are able to play Shredder's powerful dual oscillator FM/Subtractive synth or any other Virtual MIDI compatible iOS devices on your iPad. You can even play hardware synths through
a physical connection, if you so choose.

The synth will track your playing very well (though it helps if you can play precisely and cleanly) and you can even get passable results by playing your acoustic into the iPad's inbuilt mic. There's also a virtual keyboard for more precise sound triggering.

A mix control means you can blend guitar and synth for layered sounds and with fuzz, chorus/vibrato and delay effects also available, there's a massive array of sounds on tap.

Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.